Aoi
by Seira-chan
Summary: Two forces are struggling to right the wrongs of the legendary Sailor Wars, and Seiko Kou, a young fifteen-year-old girl from Kinmokusei who lost her mother under mysterious circumstances, finds herself caught in-between on a dangerous new planet with str
1. Default Chapter

Aoi  
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Author's Notes  
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I dedicate this story to Amara for her wonderful comments  
which encouraged me to keep writing this thing and to stop  
being so lazy and just finally post it. ^_^   
  
For those who might have come across this story before, it's  
been completely revised. Not the prologue so much as the  
rest of it. (chapters one and up). Hopefully for the better =P  
  
Disclaimer -- Sailor Moon doesn't belong to me, but to the  
wonderful and talented Naoko Takeuchi.   
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The noise was starting to give me a headache.   
The laughs, the cheers, the dancing, and wild singing caused a   
relentless pounding. My dearest friend and companion, Sailor   
Cleoa, had promised and assured me that we would stay clear   
from the overwhelming crowds in the street and partiers that   
swarmed the main palace halls and ball room. But as we watched   
from the highest balcony where no one would pay us any heed,   
I noticed the all too familiar sparkle in her eyes and knew that  
she had completely fallen pray to the ongoing excitement. And I   
knew I was already doomed to follow her out of the shadows.   
  
It's not that I don't have a backbone; believe me, I do. Hell,   
you'd have to have one if you had been playing both sides of   
the line like I had for the past twenty years of this stupid war.   
It's just that... well... it was always hard for me to turn down her   
cheery temperament and that irritating, yet oh so charming plea   
on her face that almost made you want to choke because you   
knew that simple little word, "no", would never make it out of   
your mouth. It was a quality I was surprised to see she still had   
after all the blood we had shed.  
  
But it really didn't matter. In the end she would have dragged   
my butt down there anyways. She was never one who could   
stay a few steps behind from the everyday world of society.   
There always needed to be a time or place where she could   
hide away from duty, to join in and just... be. Pretending to be   
someone untouched by destiny and duty I suppose.  
  
I grimaced as a dark haired man overcome by drunken laughter   
spilt a jug full of some blue, bubbly and utterly foul smelling liquid   
all over me. He gasped and then fell back into hysterical giggling.   
"Sorry sweetie. Didn't see you there".  
  
I could only wave off his clumsiness and apologetic reply. He   
didn't know what he was doing and he would no doubt wake   
up without an ounce of memory and not to mention with one   
hell of a headache as well. "Hey, ain't you of those ancient   
warrior type people?" another man overlooking the accident   
spoke up. "I love you", another cried out, holding up his drink  
in a clumsy salute, "To the one who showed the Faronians the   
meaning of a good ass kicking". He then promptly keeled over   
in his chair, eyes glazed over and trying to figure out why it   
was he was now an inch away from kissing the floor.   
  
"Have a little respect you numbskull. This is a peace promoting   
party, remember?", a young boyish girl shook her head a   
pulled the dazed man to his feet. I smiled at her gratefully and   
turned away from their crowd. Although the noise was   
beginning to get to me, it was no comparison to the bloody   
shrill screams that had plagued our two kingdoms for so long.   
No, even the overwhelming noises of the party were better   
than that. Now if only the rivals could keep it this way.  
  
Her majesty had taken the first step by allowing the people   
from all the lands to celebrate in her kingdom, and by the looks   
of it she was going easy. She was going to have one hell of a   
cleanup job the next day, if the party ended by then. I searched   
the room of people for a long time, before coming across   
Cleoa's energetic form cheering on a friendly competition of   
arm wrestling between a Faronian and a Pearon. Instinctively   
she turned around at my presence and grinned. "Hey Cleois.   
I'm challenging the winner", she gestured to the red-faced man   
and woman. "Stay and bask in my glory".   
  
She laughed in a sudden   
frenzy that easily blended in with our surroundings and hugged me.   
"You hate being down here, don't you?" she said. Somehow I   
managed to smile down at her, and shake my head. "No..." I said   
slowly, "My head is just really starting to bother me. Maybe I'll   
just go outside, and find some place to clear it." She nodded and   
pulled away, giving me a sane, honest smile. "Thanks for letting   
me drag you into this huge mess of normal people". I shrugged   
and looked around for the entrance where I could make my   
escape, before pushing my way through the crowds.  
  
* * *  
  
Clear air and silence does the mind wonders. As soon as the   
noises of the celebration faded away, the harsh pounding   
ceased and finally I was left alone with only my conscience and   
my surroundings. And I guess the stinging pain that sharp pupoe   
plant had left me. I collapsed slowly to the spongy ground   
and sprawled among the thick carpet of wild weeds. Peace   
was among this planet tonight, the one thing the people of this   
planet had been fighting for, for as long as I could remember.   
Yet, I couldn't help but entertain the words that ran through   
my head over and over again. How long would it last? Watching   
the stars that never faded in the sky, I drifted off, dreamily   
wondering what all they had seen over time…   
  
"Everlasting light brings never ending darkness"  
  
A truth so easily ignored; yet that cannot be denied. For   
without darkness, the light does not exist, and without the light..."  
An empty ache filled my chest, for what purpose did a senshi   
have if we could not banish the darkness, or prevent it? All   
we fought for, would it not be meaningless? The hollow   
whispering voice was taunting me, feeding hungrily upon my   
fears. "Leave me be", I told it bravely.  
  
And it did.  
  
It left me alone, standing in a world of destruction. It was my   
world, the world I had fought near death for. Against the fire,   
the slaughter, the accusations, the terrorists, the cold racist   
hearts. There was none of that here now, but rubble of once   
standing cities drowning beneath a polluted sky. I wondered   
for a moment if this was my home, for the pattern of the stars   
had changed drastically. Many of them didn't seem to exist   
anymore, and few gave light. I stepped carefully through the   
crumbled pieces of buildings and held my nose at the smell   
of blood and flesh, which sickly hang heavy in the air.   
Everything was overcome by silence. Except for one small   
noise which overcame it in a single burst of emotion, the   
sound of sobbing.  
  
Without much hesitation I was running towards it, feeling her   
pain immensely strong and familiar. I choked as I practically   
tripped over her weeping form, kneeling in the spoiled dirt.   
Her fiery red hair fell in filthy tangles around her body and her   
senshi uniform hung in mangled rags. "Cleoa", I whispered in   
agony. I fell to the ground beside her, as my hands reached out   
for her shoulders, clinging to them.  
  
After what felt like eternity, she slowly lifted her head from her   
bruised hands and looked into my eyes, which terrified me   
more than anything had ever done before. I had seen much   
sorrow in my life, but not nearly as deep or as dark as those   
two pools of blue did then. Reaching out slowly, she grabbed   
my arms, her own hands shaking wildly, yet still strong enough   
to bruise my own. She drew closer and struggled to keep her   
tears under control, taking ragged breaths. "Run", she spoke,   
"don't let them get you...".  
  
I couldn't speak. There was nothing I could say; my voice had   
forgotten me. I just sat there staring at her eyes while my arms   
went numb in her cold grip. All of a sudden her whole body   
tensed, and for one fleeting moment, was bathed in rays of   
brilliant light. She let out a surprised yelp before falling forward,   
limp at my knees.  
  
I wasn't even allowed to scream, although my whole being   
demanded it. I watched, horrified, as a small flower-like crystal   
appeared from her chest, replacing her body, which dissolved   
gradually as dust. Her ashes scattered aimlessly among the   
rubble, blending in with the rest of the destruction.  
  
I'm not sure how long I sat there, hugging myself with the cold   
at my back, while bathing in the only light that gave me little   
comfort. The feel of her presence kept me huddled in that spot,   
unmoving. It was then, that awareness and instinct that only   
comes while dreaming flooded my senses.   
  
Breathing heavily I looked up. Fear was no longer an enemy.   
A creature of the shadows, or possibly the dead, walked   
slowly towards me with icy blue eyes staring coldly and hungrily.   
Courage was on my side. I sat still, staring it down as it crept   
closer. It stopped before it reached me, and in one swift motion,   
reached out and snatched the crystal, my only warmth, friend,   
and light. It smiled as I whimpered in surprise and circled me   
like prey. I watched it carefully as it walked around me in a full   
circle before stopping in front of my shaking knees. The world   
around me suddenly went black, as it's menacing hand reached   
out for me...  
  
  
Music weaved its way through the darkness, light but sad, the   
sound of awakening. It joined me easily in the sorrow I was   
feeling, understanding my emotions and calling out to them. Its   
rhythm pulsated through me, and finally convinced me to open   
up my eyes and return to the real world. The familiar sea of   
stars greeted me warmly. All of them dancing and shining boldly,   
not one out of place. My breathing slowly calmed and relaxed.   
Just a dream, my conscience assured me. Nothing more than a   
dream. My thoughts played absentmindedly with images I was   
already trying hard to forget. Finally they stilled and concentrated   
solely on the music instead.  
  
Every note spoke to me with gentle sympathy, calling me by   
name. For one brief moment the stars stilled, and so did I.   
Slowly I stood up and felt the rhythm fill my body. It was softly   
pulling me, and I allowed it. My mind was clouded, with its tune   
dancing through my brain, and blindly, I explored my surroundings.   
Searching, until I stepped into a clearing with a figure holding   
an instrument.   
  
She sat surrounded by the grasses and bushes on the clearing   
edge, holding it rigidly. Stupidly I watched her nimble fingers   
dance in a complicated pattern upon the air holes. I was   
unfocused, and demanded myself to make sense of my surroundings.   
The player abruptly stopped, and opened her eyes.  
  
Instantly I became aware of how far I had wandered away   
from the city and the person watching me with her familiar   
bluish green eyes. "Layra", I whispered. Relief drowned out   
the panicked awareness and my heart slowed down its normal   
speed. It was only Layra, a victim She and Cleoa had saved   
two years ago from death when her family had been taken   
hostage. "I didn't know you could play".  
  
She briefly glanced down at the instrument.  
"Neither did I".  
  
I looked around at the wild brambles, and the tall wild weeds   
that surrounded us. "What are you doing so close to the   
outskirts?" I asked her.   
  
She was slow to make her reply.  
"I wanted to be away from the celebrations" she spoke softly.   
"It's just too painful and sad. They're all so blind. They don't   
see that what they celebrate won't last". She paused. "Is that   
why you've wandered away as well, Fara?"  
A strange pang of fear shot through me sending my senses into   
a heightened awareness.  
  
"Destiny is cruel, isn't it?" she continued. "It will give you   
everything you ever dreamed of, and at the same time destroy   
everything you ever hoped to accomplish. It bounds you to   
chains for eternity, until you realize one day that you are no   
more than a toy". Layra tore her eyes away from mine to stare   
up into the universe. "It called me. After so many years it's still   
alive. Whether it's bounds to the fates or not, it's still alive".   
She paused once more. "I'd apologize but then again, like you,   
I am bound.  
  
"Layra?" I whispered uncertain. But before I could say anything   
more, she sharply turned her gaze back towards me.  
  
"It begins"  
  
Nothing could prepare me for the pain as the silver instrument,   
in only a mere instant, found it's way deep into my chest. I gasped   
and choked, my vision focusing once more on that desolate   
world where the stars had lost their shine and the memories   
of existence lost as dust on the wind.   
  
"Cleoa..." I quietly cried, before my body surrendered to   
nothingness…  
  
* * * *   
  
Thud... Thud... Thud...  
  
Vibrant green eyes opened in shock at the sudden pulse of   
energy racing through her head.  
  
Thud... Thud... Thud...  
  
"Seiya... Can you feel that?"  
  
The black haired senshi jumped up onto the crumbled   
remains of a building left behind in older times and stared   
out over the horizon. "No", she spoke sharply, "I can see it".   
The silver haired woman ignored the silent messages racing   
through her mind, and looked up to see a light pulsing through   
brush lands that outlined the city of Cercis.  
  
"And it's spreading",   
Maker came up from behind them. Sure enough, with every   
pulse Healer could feel, the light grew outwards, slowly but   
noticeably. Without another moment of hesitation, Sailor Star   
Fighter jumped away from her spot and started to run towards   
it, causing Healer and Maker to follow closely behind her.  
  
As they got closer the pulses turned into many voices, chattering   
at once in a language Healer could not understand. They're   
not from this planet, she thought in wonder, stopping with other   
two in front of their destination. Uprooted grass and plants   
blew past her feet and she had to quickly dodge a branch that   
fell quietly from above. "It's an outsider" she spoke with   
certainty. Maker shook her head. "That's impossible. We would   
have surely been able to sense it, never mind see it invade our   
atmosphere"  
  
"But it can't be from this planet Maker", Healer insisted, taking   
a step back as the light reached out for her feet. "Its energy is   
foreign... and yet...", she squinted, as memories and visions flashed   
before her. "I think it's been here before..."  
  
Fighter's eyes grew wide, "It's not...it can't be the..." she shook   
her head and clutched her hands to her face briefly, to force the   
images that Healer saw away. Maker stepped closer, reaching   
out to touch the surface. A shiver ran through her at contact,   
and she qucikly retracted her hand. "There's only one way were   
going to find out". She looked back towards them, and they nodded.   
  
Healer watched her comrades disappear as they stepped into   
the light. The voices were now chanting. "Hold on", she   
whispered.  
  
She gasped at the sudden coldness on her skin, everything was   
white, and she slowly reached out, hoping to come in contact   
with Maker or Fighter. But her fingers grasped nothing. The   
center, I have to find the center, she thought, and continued   
to walk blindly forward, towards the sounds that grew louder   
with every step she took.   
  
"Soldier..." they started to laugh, "come find us..." Healer   
grunted in surprise as she came into contact with something,   
realizing with a start that it was a tree. She grasped its smooth   
trunk and looked out. Not into an endless world of white,   
but instead a galaxy. Their galaxy. Healer blinked, and slowly   
let her hands slide away. Watching wisps of energy play and   
float among beds of stars. "Can you find me soldier?" A light   
drifted more softly among they sky as it's form changed into   
one similar to hers. It floated towards her grasping her fingers,   
causing Healer to pull them protectively away.  
  
"What is your business here on this planet?"  
  
The chanting and the laughing all stopped at once, causing a   
dizzy silence to fill her head. A woman's clear voice rang out   
from the sky. "No different than yours soldier." she smiled.  
"Were as old as the first prick of energy that lit this galaxy..."  
  
Then all of a sudden the galaxy appeared to expand. The   
faceless form of energy tilted its head to one side and raised   
it's arm to it's side, as if in beckoning. The galaxy stopped   
expanding and began to retract and then stop. It exploded a   
great burst of energy, sending waves of light to wash over   
her that burned like fire on her skin. She screamed, and felt   
her body hit the ground of the forest floor.  
  
Just as she thought she would lose conscience, the lights faded   
away just as suddenly as they had come.  
  
"Healer!"  
  
Cold hands gripped her shoulders and she slightly trembled   
as she looked up into Maker's eyes. "What happened?" Maker's   
eyes looked away and opened her mouth as if to say something,   
but quickly closed it at loss for words. Healer sat upright   
quickly, reality slowly creeping back to her senses. She looked   
around. "What the hell was that…Where the hell is Seiya?!"  
  
"I don't know, she..." Maker trailed off as the sun's rays that   
had managed to seep through the trees reflected off a pointed   
edge buried among the piles of leaves and moss. "Healer", she   
pointed. Healer stood up and walked towards it, gently lifting   
the object off the ground.   
  
In her hand was Fighter's transformation pendant.   
  
She swiveled around anxiously looking for any sign of black   
leather slumped on the ground. "Fighter!" holding her hands   
around her mouth she yelled. Nothing.  
  
"Healer, she's probably still unconscious somewhere… What   
do you think it was that was here?" Maker jumped up into   
one of the trees, but still couldn't see any sign of their companion.   
  
Healer fidgeted in frustration. "I don't know. I really don't.   
Only the princess might know". She took a deep breath   
and yelled as loud as her lungs would allow.   
"Fighter you jackass!!"  
  
Still no reply.   
  
As they searched through the forest grove for the third time   
that hour they realized Fighter wasn't going to be responding   
to their calls anytime soon.   
  
* * * *  
  
End of Prologue  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Part 1: Kinmokusei

Where should I start?  
Disjointed heart  
I've got not commitment   
To my own flesh  
And I'm left all alone  
Can't find my home  
No one to hear me, to heal my ill heart, I  
keep it locked up inside  
I cannot express to the point I've regressed  
If anger's a gift, then I guess I've been blessed...  
- "And One", by Linkin Park  
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Since the beginning of time, people had always looked to the stars.   
And although their perception of their significance altered over time,   
from religon to religon, and through the eyes of science; one thought   
always remained the same. That they were a source of life and energy   
and would be until the day the universe collapsed within itself or   
otherwise.   
  
The people of Kinmokusei knew more than most about the mysteries   
of the universe. For many reasons and none in particular. If anyone   
asked them, they would just say they _knew_. For in fact, the stars   
were many things, and their secrets as others percieved them were   
not often that far off anyhow. Why destroy a beautiful dream when   
that dream wasn't so different from the reality? Even so, the people   
of Kinmouksei probably knew more than most could tell you, and yet   
a smaller number could use them to their advantage.   
  
Seiko kou had been playing with tarot cards since she could stick   
pebbles in her mouth at the early age of three. The detailed and   
complicated desgins that bordered the edges of each card and their   
smooth, empty black centers which sometimes showed pretty landscapes   
of the galaxy, had fascinated her to no end. After she had gotten past   
the stage of sticking them in her mouth, (much to her mother's relief   
and Aunt's amusements), her mother had begun to show her the more   
useful ways of handling her cards. Tarot cards (or her mother's cards   
in particular) not only could show one pretty pictures, but was a way   
of communicating with the stars. A way of recieving messages from   
the heavens above.   
  
However, when it came down to learning how to master them,   
capturing images was one thing, recieving messages were entirely   
another. For even after twelve years of "playing" around with her   
mother's cards, she could never get what she wanted to see. Even   
after all the frustration and tears, in the depths of her darkest hour, the   
cards had refused to show her anything but a single white dot in a   
black plain that made as much sense to her as Aunt Taiki's lectures   
on the Physics of black holes.   
  
Even then, most of the time, the cards would prefer to remain blank.   
  
As frustrating as it could be though, she refused to give up, prefering   
to believe that given time, she would eventually learn to master them.   
While she saw this as optimisim on her part, her "family" begged to   
differ. Searching for the whereabouts of her lost mother would only   
conjure hoplessness eventually, and much disapointment, was what   
they probably thought. Watching a fourteen year old girl spend hours   
looking for something that just wasn't there anymore through cards   
seemed pretty sad and had invoked too much pity in them which she   
just couldn't bare to see. As far as she was concerned, she didn't   
deserve any of it. Not one stupid tear. And as quiet footsteps could be   
heard heading towards the door of her room, she imagined that a fifteen   
year old looking for something that "wasn't there" would only be more   
upsetting than before. If only they could see that it was all she had left.  
  
In seemingly one swift motion, she scooped up her cards with one   
giant sweep of her arm, and leapt off the bed, jamming them into her   
drawer underneath a pile of skirts and dresses she never wore anymore.   
Grabbing a book off her night table she hadn't touched in weeks, she   
threw herself back onto her bed just as the door slipped open and a   
young woman poked her head into the room.   
  
"Is reading all you ever do?"  
  
"Hm?", was Seiko's intelligent reply as she idly flipped a page without   
even sparing a glance at the actual text.   
  
Tori, her temporary guardian, stepped foreward to survey the room,   
revealing a large belly already eight months full with child. She took   
in, with a sigh of defeat, the silk curtains and their cloth coverings   
drawn tightly together to prevent any source of natural light to find   
it's way through, the ruffled bedsheets and pillows that hadn't been   
made for weeks or longer, and several of her belongings that either   
sat on the shelf or lay on the floor drowning in pools of dust. The   
entire atmosphere was quite stuffy and in all, she thought, quite depressing.   
The woman walked foreward and snatched the book away and put her   
hands to her hips. Seiko opened her mouth as if to say something,   
but instead squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, and turned onto her   
side to face her.   
  
"You've been lying in your room rotting for over a week" Tori scolded   
her, in the motherly fashion she hated all to much.   
  
"I go out for daily walks"  
  
"How about going out with other children your age?"  
  
Irritation immediately siezed her as well as suspicion. She never   
bothered searching for companions to hang out with. Not after the   
last time she had decided to give the world another chance. Any   
social skills she had had left were rendered dead. She had found it   
too tiresome and weary to even carry out a normal conversation. Plus   
she had also discovered that she had been dwelling within the shadows   
for too long, for the world she had attempted to return to, had already   
left her far, far behind. Which was why she was suspicous at Tori's   
suggestion, one that Tori immediatley confirmed next, was right.   
  
"Gaitou is waiting at the door downstairs"  
  
A coldness Seiko rarely showed to others swept over her features.   
Beneath that coldness was everything she didn't want to show anyone:   
anger, hurt, and a strong bitterness intermingled so deeply that it had   
kept her up most nights as she tried to wash it out through tears.   
Though tears were never enough. Gaitou and her two other friends,   
Misha and Zou, had been with her since childhood, since the very day   
she had first started coming to live with Tori and her husband during   
the short winters to get away from it all. They had done nearly everything   
together, from living up fantasy worlds as children most often do, to   
defending each other in fights against the kids next door. They had   
been there for each other through the times of good and bad.   
Well... almost.  
  
Even strong friendships could never outlast the hands of time. Or   
even tragedies. After the disappearence of her mom, she hadn't been   
in the best of states, true. It was kind of like a numbness had spread   
over her entire mind, making it difficult to think or even communicate   
properly. From all appearences, she didn't want anything to do with   
anyone. Though in fact, she had been stupidly holding her hand out   
the whole time, hoping with blind faith that someone would take it.   
The problem was, they just didn't know what to do with her, and   
eventually, she had accepted that. Eventually. It never felt any   
better, though.  
  
As she had gotten back on her feet for the first time in weeks since the disappearence,   
she had decided she had been confined to the corners of her room for long enough.   
She had come bounding down the stairs to the sounds of Tori making   
breakfast in the kitchin and Oku working out in the back yard. The   
bright horizon outside her opened windows had made her feel strangely...   
at peace. Almost happy. She felt as though she could take on the   
world that day and finding tickets that morning in her jewelry case   
which had reminded her of a promise she had made months   
before, only seemed to make it better. A look of surprise and worry had   
crossed Tori's face as she announced she was going out that day before   
grabbing a fruit dumpling and stuffing it into her mouth while examining   
her tickets furthur.   
  
"Are you feeling up to it?"  
  
"I promised Gaitou and Misha I'd go to the festival this year with them.   
I have to beat Misha at the games and Gaitou at his little arm wrestling   
tournement we hold each year"  
  
Tori's worry immediately vanished when she saw the faintest of smiles   
creep across the younger girls face. There could only be one reply   
to that. "Alright then. Have fun"  
  
Flashing an infmous grin Tori had thought she'd never see again,   
Seiko had grabbed another dumpling and turned back towards the   
stairs calling back to her as she leapt up them two at a time. "I'm just   
going to grab a coat, when they get here tell them I'll be down in a   
moment"  
  
By the time Seiko had found her coat after a good ten minutes of   
searching, she could already hear the excited voices of her three friends   
getting stronger as they walked down the street. By the time they   
had gotten to her door, however, the excited voices had turned to   
nervous whispers, unsure and somewhat weary. Frowning, she waited   
for the bells that would officially announce their arrival. They never came.   
  
Instead, Seiko watched from her window as the three of them slowly   
backed off and continued on their way, the excited voices returning   
only after they rounded the corner onto the next street.   
  
They had abandoned her...  
  
She wasn't sure how long she had stood at her open window, staring   
at nothing in particular or maybe at the group of kids on the grass   
laughing like they hadn't a care at all, until she had finally slumped to   
the ground in defeat. They had abandoned her!  
  
Shaking away the vial memory, Seiko was about to tell Tori where   
Gaitou could gladly go, when she quickly interrupted her, her gaze   
softening somewhat as she spoke. "Seiko... it's natural for people   
to feel a little... unsure of others who hav--"  
  
"Yes, I know", Seiko quickly cut in, trying hard not to sound too   
impatient or mean to the woman who had to put up with her for   
almost two years now. "You don't think I've told myself that hundreds   
of times?"  
  
"So you'll give him another chance?", her guardian asked hopefully.  
  
Seiko wanted to punch a hole in the wall in front of her. She had   
been wanting to do that a lot lately, she realized. How could she   
understand? It didn't matter whether or not she was completely out   
of line with her emotions. There was still a huge blockade there   
between her and the people she had cared for. It didn't matter that   
Gaitou, Misha or Zou lived only streets or houses apart. The fact was   
they were light years away from each other now. She refused to pay   
much acknowledgement to the sharp pang in her chest as she processed   
this thought.   
  
Tori's gaze tightened once more, as she took the girl's burning silence   
as a defenite no. She watched the girl fidget some more and stare   
down at her covers with an intense interest. "How long are you going   
to hide from everyone?"  
  
Seiko sighed and made a noise as if to speak, but stopped. There were   
no words she could use to get across what she wanted to say. Which   
really wasn't anything at all. All of a sudden she was feeling unsually   
tired and worn.   
  
"Seiko, you have got to get out of this slump. I don't want to see   
you in this room all the time, I want to see you smiling and actively   
involving yourself with other children out there"  
  
"You sound like a physchologist"  
  
"Seiko, your returning to school two days from now"  
  
Something flashed in the black haired girls eyes as she spoke the   
words. Fear, Acknowledgement... anger maybe. "Trust me, you'll feel   
grateful in the end. All you really need is a small push I think", she spoke   
soothingly once more as she touched the girls shoulder. She didn't   
move or flinch as she usually did, but instead looked thoughtful.   
Nervously so.   
  
It was then that Tori's husband, Oku, intruded on their little interlude,   
flashing them both that geuninely friendly smile that sometimes made   
Seiko envious. He made it look so easy. "Tori, you might want to   
come down to the door... A messenger from Cercis is waiting in the   
living room to speak with you".   
  
"A Queen's messenger?"  
  
Oku shrugged in that way that said 'who else could it be' and turned   
back down the hallway towards the stairs with his puzzled wife at   
his heels.   
  
* * * *  
  
"Setsuna-san"  
  
The still green haired woman pried her eyes away from the entrance   
to the solar system, not at all startled by shattered silence she had   
grown accustomed to for days. She smiled softly at her company   
and the endearing name she hadn't been called in what felt like   
years.  
  
"It's been a long time Saturn"  
  
The young purple-eyed woman nodded glancing past to the view of   
the sky she had been staring at only a moment ago and at the calm,   
seemingly impassive expression that spoke composure mastered   
during millions of years. It was a face that Saturn had learned in   
older days to read so well.   
  
"The queen is not the only one that can feel it then".  
  
The guardian of time shook her head, remembering that sudden rush   
of energy that rippled across the galaxy almost two years ago. And   
then, as suddenly as it had come, it had evaporated, leaving everything   
at a standstill. A warning, she had concluded to herself.  
  
"Does the queen still worry of this?"  
  
"I'm sure she wouldn't have sent me to bother you if she wasn't",   
Saturn smiled at her friend.  
  
"How is she doing?" Setsuna asked curiously, turning back towards   
the doorway. The younger girl didn't show any sign of annoyance at   
the change of topic. "She and Endymion are both doing well. Their   
kingdom has never been happier. Small Lady does well too, but   
Haruka-san tells me that her mother wants to send her back to school   
on the moon and that she's a little adamant about this"  
  
"Is the queen that worried?" Setsuna asked softly.  
"Sestuna-san. An old enemy haunts her dreams. But if I may say so,   
she plays a better actress than you right now and that surprises me",   
her tone grew serious. "What do you see Setsuna-san? Is it Chaos?"  
  
The older senshi turned back towards her friend, regarding her   
carefully. "I'm sure Chaos was reborn long ago. And that she wanders   
the Galaxy in some form or another. But what I fear the most is that it   
hides where time has no control. Where I have no control."  
  
Saturn furrowed her brows slightly at this. "What does that mean?"  
  
"It means.." Pluto paused, and then continued trying to take it from   
a different angle. "About four days ago, Crystal Tokyo time, I visited   
London, England during the year 2020.   
I sat at a coffee shop and watched a woman and   
her child stroll peacefully across the street, hand in hand, chatting   
amongst each other as they looked at clothes in the store windows"  
  
The younger girl nodded and urged her to continue.  
  
"The next day I went back to that same coffee shop, during the same   
year, the exact day, and the exact time. She was there with her child,   
this time sitting on the corner wrapped in rags holding out her   
hands and begging to anybody that went by. Her child, who I was so   
sure was a young girl of eight or ten maybe, was now a boy of no   
more than four years, huddled in her lap, barely stirring. A little perturbed   
at this, I went back again and again. Each time I saw a different scene   
playing out before my eyes. Once when I went back, my little cofee   
shop didn't even exist. In fact, neither did London, England for that matter"  
  
"But little changes happen all the time, don't they?"  
  
Pluto nodded, "and your right, the changes did start off fairly small at   
first. But the scenes became more and more drastic each time.   
Sometimes they would return to a state of normalcy, but it would never   
stop altering to a large degree. The only reason you might not have felt  
it is because the changes go back before Crystal Tokyo was formed.   
Luckily there haven't been any changes that have stopped the formation  
of the city itself."  
  
"But it still means the future is no longer certain?"  
  
"Yes. And the worst part of it is, I can't pinpoint the interference.   
The past we know is as it always was, so there isn't any problems there. It   
might not even be Chaos. It could be anything or anyone" A flicker   
of worry and uncertainty flickered in the senshi's red orbs.  
  
"Setsuna-chan, you hinted earlier you might know why this is..."  
  
And again the senshi of time turned towards the door that held the   
mysteries of the history of the universe, an almost thoughtful expression   
crossing her features. "For all the world, the galaxy and universe,   
Saturn, I hope that what I'm thinking has never been more wrong"  
  
* * * *   
  
End of Chapter 1  



	3. 

Untitled 

Author Says: 

Chapter 2 has been sitting on my hardrive for a while now. 

For the longest time, my computer was out of commission, and school 

and other important matters in my life took first priority over the internet 

_and_ my website, if anyone was wondering about that ^_^ 

Here it is though, and I _do_ plan to continue it. I can't tell all you guys enough 

who emailed me about this story how thankful I am. Your support for this 

little project is great motivation to me; not just for this too, but for everything 

else that I happen to write. 

Email me at my new address: oniko_chan@hotmail.com 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Chapter 2 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The bustling sounds of kids playing in the small yard surrounding the school 

building caused Seiko to momentarily cringe as she stepped through the tall 

gates that encompassed it. A jail cell, that's what it was, she bitterly thought 

to herself. It had been at least a year since she had been forced to sit at a table 

and learn the principles of math and space while bored, unwilling students 

nudged her to pass on the lastest piece of gossip going around. Or the teachers 

long, droning voice that almost made her a willing accomplice with her classmates 

childish requests. Needless to say, she hadn't missed it one bit. 

In fact, she was half tempted to just turn away from the whole ordeal and go lay 

under some trees until the final bell rang and she could safely make her way 

back without too much conflict at home. What did she need math for anyways? 

Besides using it to save a few bucks in the market place, there wasn't all that 

much she could do with it. Then Tori's voice rang through her mind for the 

hundreth time that morning, reminding her that she honestly couldn't care less 

if Seiko became well educated or not. It was all the mind-numbing gossip and 

playful nudging she wanted Seiko to partake in. 

What had she called it? Oh yeah. Socializing. 

Great. She'd rather learn the advantages and theories of triangulation. 

It wasn't that she couldn't see the importance of it. On the contrary, she had 

constantly berated herself for that particular weakness of hers she had 

developed over the years. It was just that she had stopped caring a long time 

ago. After all, it wasn't as though she hadn't tried. 

She sighed and shifted the pack from one shoulder to the other as it's weight 

started to abuse her muscles. Across the school yard a shriek rang out through 

the air, drawing the attention of most of the school yard. A girl around Seiko's 

age, now budding fifteen years, ran down the grassy path that dipped down 

into the yard from the right side of the grounds. Starry-eyed and blushing 

red, the girl ran as fast as humanly possibly considering the restraints of a 

long, spring dress that spoke of pink flowers and flowed slightly about her legs. 

Behind her, a boy that Seiko recognized as one of Gaitou's buddies, ran after 

her, a cheeky grin playing out across his high cheek bones, arms out as if to 

grab her from around the waist. Screaming some more, the girl playfully 

ducked behind the closest trees, peeking out from the thick trunk to bat her 

long, dark eyelashes. It was like a scene out of a bad romance novel. Seiko 

inwardly groaned, and decided that spending the day under a grove of trees 

was sounding better and better. If anything, it would give her a chance to 

catch up on the sleep she had had missed. Or more like the sleep she hadn't 

gotten at all last night. She turned away from the whole scene and walked 

back towards the gates from whence she had came. 

"Seiko?" 

Alas, the heavens were frowning on her this morning it seemed. She glanced 

back over her shoulder to see the hormone ridden boy watching her quizzically, 

the fair maiden waiting anxiously behind the tree momentarily forgotten. 

"Uh?" 

"Ha! You don't remember me, do you?" 

Seiko shrugged and turned around, giving him a small sheepish grin in apology. 

"It's been a while" 

The girl pouted, but crept from behind the tree to stand beside her pursuer 

and examine the black haired student that had appeared from out of nowhere. 

She took in with a slightly critical eye the baggy silk pants that were usually 

only worn by men, and the lose, feminine shirt that was about two sizes too 

big for her. The long black hair that would normally come down to her waist 

was twisted and tied up to the back of her head with various pins, one being a 

small gold star that Tori said stole attention away from the rest of the messy 

black ones that held everything together in an almost vain attempt. Feeling 

completely unthreatened by this new arrival, she bowed in greeting and embraced 

the black haired girl, frowning a little as the muscles beneath her welcoming 

arms tensed in alarm. She pulled away and edged back towards her place beside 

her handsome pursuer. "I'm Hisha. This is Rikoro" 

Seiko nodded politely. "I'm sure we've met before" 

"oh?" 

Rikoro gently nudged her in the ribs. "C'mon! Don't tell me you don't remember 

the number one champion of the lunch hour rumbles?" 

"What?" 

"You know, the future "knight" of kinmokusei? The girl who could beat two 

guys at once in kombat using her 'almighty sword of justice?'. She kicked that 

new guy's ass when he made some stupid comment about Jenna's haircut." 

"Oh... I see..." Suffice to say, Hisha didn't look all that impressed. 

"Uh..." Seiko fidgeted uncomfortably. Geesz, had she really been that full of 

herself as a kid?. "Actually I think it was my almighty stick of justice... and 

I don't do stuff like that anymore." 

Rikoro laughed, "Ahh c'mon. What do you do now? collect dolls?". He 

raised his fists in front of him and fell back into a defensive stance, leaning 

back and throwing a small jab that almost hit his annoyed companion in the 

nose as she backed away. "I bet you still got some of it in ya! C'mon and 

show me what you got!" 

Ugh, there was that word again. Seiko's irritability started to rise. What kind 

of person did they take her for now? The urge to give him a good backfist to 

the nose was overwhelming. Instead she easily avoided a sloppy ridgehand 

to her head and slapped away a powerful, but much too slow uppercut to her 

gut. 

"I think I have more honor than that now!", she snapped, feeling her voice 

rise to match the annoyance that was climbing higher by every second. 

"Than to pick a fight with some kid at school just for the hell of it!" 

By the look of offence on Rikoro's face, she guessed that hadn't come out 

right at all. Much less honorable. 

His face twisted from embaressment to disgust and finally to barely controlled 

anger that bubbled just barely beneath the surface. "Not good enough?", he 

asked. His words dripped with sarcasm and a bitterness that instantly made her 

regret ever opening her mouth at all. "Am I just some stupid urban kid not 

worthy of the all high and mighty soldier of the school vacant lot?" 

He spat at her feet and walked away, with Hisha close at his feet. Yes, this was 

going to be long day indeed. 

* * * 

Things only continued to go down hill for the rest of the afternoon. Besides all the 

extra attention she got from the teacher for being behind the rest of the grade 

(ugh, math...) the attention she got from the rest of the students was unnerving 

and not at all welcoming. News about her little slip up that morning had gotten 

around in no time and the glares she got from some of the boys and girls made her 

squirm. 

The whispers she did her best to block out for the most part. What was it they 

called her? Arrogant, lofty, snobbish and a whole bunch of other words that 

basically meant the same thing. Well she defenitely wasn't exactly full of pride 

at the moment, that was for sure. The bitchy tomboy bit the had overheard the 

girls call her during their break had just wanted to make her snort with derisive 

laughter. 

Physical Ed. was the worst class of all. While she was fine with keeping to herself 

in a corner and zoning out during lessons, P.E. meant she had to move around a 

participate. Playing sports was just fine with her. Yokou and her mom had 

helped her develop quite a taste for it and the competition when she was young. 

Playing competitively with a bunch of people who probably wanted to pound 

you into the muddy field though, kind of zapped all the fun out of it. 

A lot of the kids passed her the ball just so the opposing team would run after her. 

Instead of outrunning them like she knew she easily could with her sort of past 

training, she "kindly" passed the ball and the spotlight to another one of her team mates. 

"Hey romp, why so scared of the ball?" 

"I'm kicking it aren't I?" 

"Scared of getting a little dirty?" 

Seiko bit down on her lip, pushing down the rising frustration. It was amazing 

how fast she went from being an arrogant tomboy to a snobbish femme. Well, 

whatever. Empty words. That's all they were. 

It was then a shoulder caught her off guard by slamming into her from behind, 

sending her off balance and into a ditch that had gathered water over night. 

She slowly looked up to see one of the players with the ball look down at her 

with a raised eyebrow. "Oops" 

Yeah. Right. 

Without looking for so much as a hand to help her up, she stood up onto her 

own two feet with a sigh and headed towards the change rooms. 

The hallways were still empty as she walked in through the doors. The only 

other sounds besides her shoes that squeaked with each step against the 

floor were the rustles of paper and soft voices from ongoing lessons behind 

closed doors. 

Maybe she could still yet salvage the days ahead by apologizing to Rikoro for 

her adrupt comment. A knowing voice in her head told her that would be a lot 

easier said than done. First she'd have to find the courage to even walk up to 

him and even then she probably wouldn't be able to get close, probably not 

even with a note. 

She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment wishing she was anywhere but here, 

sitting on her bed at home reading blank cards that told her nothing and staring 

into space out her window when she had enough of that. She'd rather be in that 

neverending circle or slump she had grown so accustomed to than having to deal 

with angry peers and these sudden mud baths. Her hand gripped the door of the 

changeroom while her head painfully slumped against the wall. She stood there 

for a few moments, absorbing everything but this sudden feeling of hoplessness 

that threatened to overwhelm her. 

"Hey, I don't have it! What more do you want from m--ooof!" 

"This is the last time I'm gonna ask you..." 

Angry voices made their way from the end of the hallway, getting louder and 

eagerly prodding through the young girl's thoughts. Soles squeaking against 

the smooth floor surface, pleading, the sound of something or someone being 

shoved up against the wall, small grunts of pain barely escaping from bewteen 

someone's lips. Strangely enough not one classroom door opened to investigate. 

Seiko turned her head to see a boy no more than ten years being held roughly 

by the shoulders being shaken and pushed by a kid she recognized as Hizashi. 

His bright red hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail and his thin frame lined 

with wiry athletic muscle rippled beneath his skin as he lifted his victim up off the 

floor to whisper intimately into his ear. The fact that he was at least five years 

older than his victim struck a chord in her. As if by reflex she moved away from 

the changeroom door and stood a short ways from the two boys who hadn't yet 

noticed her presence at all. 

"Excuse me" 

The boys continued to ignore her, as if her voice was only a sliver of breeze 

teasing their senses. 

"Excuse me", her voice rose a notch in volume and in steel. "Drop him." 

Hizashi furrowed his brows and turned his head to face the girl whose dark blue 

eyes glared steadily at him. "What?" 

"I said _drop_ him." 

A smile crept up along his face as, looked her up and down incrediously. 

"Is that a threat?" 

"Just let him go. He's twice your size. And age. He obviously doesn't wanna 

fight, so stop being all high mighty and just leave him be." 

He shruged. "Fine." He lowered the boy to the ground and shoved him away. 

Without so much as a nod of his head in thanks, the flustered kid scrambled 

away out of sight. Seiko opened her mouth to acknowledge Hizashi's choice 

with praise when the older boy rushed to her in a blur of red. Too stunned and 

preoccupied to dodge out of the way in time, she grunted in mild surprise as two 

large calussed hands grabbed hold of the folds of her shirt and pushed her back 

with overpowering momentum until her back was shoved roughly into something 

hard and protruding from the wall. Most likely the doorframe to the girl's changeroom. 

Colours swam between Seiko's vision as she rapidly blinked to clear her sight and 

concentrate on controlling her breathing which shook unsteadily so that she could 

talk and fight back. A warm, unwelcome feeling of someone elses breath on her neck 

and ear made her stomach turn in disgust and revulsion. 

"You look about my size and age..", a voice whispered malicously into her ear before 

slamming her against the piece of painted metal again so that she wouldn't be able 

to respond properly. 

She closed her eyes tightly and forced the dizziness away as voices that had been 

implanted into her as a child screamed at her to fight back. As if testing his strength 

the boy strained to lift her up high against the doorframe until her shirt in his grip 

threatened to rip and tear away from her skin. "What? Aren't you going to fight back?". 

She slipped a little lower to the ground as one of his hands realeased itself from her 

shoulder and punched her exposed torso, letting go completely to let her collapse on 

the floor and watch as she reflexively tried to curl up to protect her midsection. 

"Maybe this will make you think twice about interferring in someone else's buisness." 

The voices were now screaming at her."Fight, fight, fight!". If only she could lift her 

arm. Her hands and fingers grasped the floor to help her body find a moment, even a 

second of balance that would allow her to launch herself at him. 

They shook too much, however, and before she could do much of anything he picked 

her up once more and threw her across the hallway so that she toppled onto her back 

unprotected. 

Instead of turning away, Hizashi casually walked over to her, his tall frame towering 

over her body as if waiting for her to react. 

Her heartbeat quickened as adrenaline began to pump through her veins. The colours 

that had been swimming in her vision all blended into a hazy violent shade of red and 

her legs and arms stilled and tensed. He was saying something to her, she could tell 

from the movement of his lips and expression of indifference plastered on his face, 

but she couldn't hear anything now but the voices that rose louder and louder in volume. 

"Fight, fight, FIGHT!!!" 

An inhuman growl penetrated the air, shocking the boy into silence and surpising even 

herself. She didn't stop to think as her body all of a sudden found a will of it's own. 

"Fight, fight, FIGHT!!!!" 

It wasn't just the need to defend, she realized, but the need to react to everything she 

had had to deal with in the last two years that forced her off the ground and sent her 

flying into him, kneeing him in the groin and punching him hard into the gut sending 

him stumbling back in shock. She hit him again and again until he finally fell to his 

knees, head bowed down to the floor, breathing hard. 

Seiko stopped. The voices settled down, fading away now that she had done 

as they had asked. Then adrenaline, though still there, slowly thinned out as 

she saw the boy's condition. Blood trickled down his chin and onto floor in 

small droplets. A hand clutched his chest and every breath he took made an 

unhealthy wheezing sound his his throat. Enough was enough, she thought, 

and offered a hand to the fallen boy. 

He looked away from the floor to gaze at the open hand offered to him and slowly 

took it. A firm grip in hers. Which instead of relying on her to pull him up, used 

the rest of his strength to pull her down to him. Using his body weight he pushed 

her back onto the floor, sitting on her stomach so her constant struggling was futile 

and a waste of energy. One hand gripped her chin to face him, while the other held 

her by the hair, which by now had fallen out of their pins to tumble onto the floor in 

black, tangled waves. He leaned furthur down as if to kiss her, but instead whispered 

something that only she would be able to hear. 

"I bet your momma left you because you were a real bitch." 

Her breathing stopped. Her blood ran cold. Emotions never fully tasted rose up 

in her stomach like bile until she thought she would burst. And just as she 

thought she might discover what it was like to draw blood. Real, violent 

amounts of it, that is, a fist dropped down on her, seemingly from the heavens 

above. 

And at last she was forced to surrender to darkness. 

* * * * 

"Seiko..." 

Tori had been standing just before the entrance of her bedroom door for 

sometime now. Half an hour maybe, Seiko figured, still and contemplating, 

silent so as not to make the young girl aware of her presence, though Seiko's 

senses had picked up the first step she had made on the bottom stair of the 

house. 

Instead of turning around to acknowledge her guardian, she had preferred 

sitting hunched over on her bed, staring out the window with curtains wide 

open for once, while trying hard not to finger the growing purple welt under 

her right eye. The older woman was doubtlessly figuring out how to approach 

her about what had happened yesterday, though she couldn't figure out why. 

Seiko had woken up on a hard, thinly cushioned table in a room that was 

supposed to be the nurses office. A woman poking her in the eye, causing 

pain that had reminded her why she had gotten there in the first place had 

told her softly she had put ointment over the bruises so she wouldn't have 

to worry about carrying around an ugly mass of colours, which supposedly 

stuck out terribly on her white skin. 

She had told her to go back to class then, which Seiko had gladly walked by 

without another thought and walked straight out the front doors for the last time. 

When she had arrived home it had been all she could do to get up to her room 

without Tori fussing over her and apologizing again and again. 

"Sorry? But for what?", had been her mumbled reply before she got away. 

"Seiko...", Tori tried again, clearing her throat. 

The younger girl finally turned her head to give her attention, even though 

it had been there the whole time. She was angry. No, cut that, she was 

furious, but not at the woman standing in her doorway, the woman who had 

put up with her crap for so long now. 

"The sun is spilling its last light and the air is sweet, would you join me for a walk?" 

"I suppose", she replied, a little hesitant to stray away from her haven for the 

second time that day. 

She followed Tori out into evening, the autumn air assulting their senses. 

"It's beautiful, isn't it?", Tori nodded her head towards the fading trees that heavily 

lined the narrow urban streets of the village. "Even in death everything can be so 

peaceful." 

"I suppose." 

"But soon the light will be back full force and everything will be reborn again. 

A fresh start you would say." 

"That's generally how the seasons work." 

"Because, after all, life does go on." 

"You're not here to talk about what happened today, are you? If you're trying 

to tell me something, just go ahead and say it." 

"Seiko..." 

"Don't say my name like I might all of a sudden break, because I won't." At least, 

she didn't think so, Seiko thought quietly to herself. 

"A few days ago there was a messenger from Cercis." 

"A messenger checks up on us every year." 

"Yes, but this year is different. This year he came bearing an important message 

from the queen." 

Seiko turned to look at her, already having a sneaking suspicon what the message 

would be about. 

"The queen requests," Tori continued, "you return to the city to resume training 

and to be with your family again." 

"My family..." 

"You need them." There was a tone in Tori's voice as she said that, a steely tone that 

basically stated that her mind was already made up and nothing would be able to change 

it. There would be no room for argument whatsoever. 

Seiko turned and started to walk away. Dead leaves scattered and twirled around 

her feet, and she wished for a moment that she could be among them too, her fate being 

to float along as the wind carried her, only having to watch the souls above 

and below her. 

"Would you?", a faint inexistent voice in the wind asked her, before it's sympathy was 

lost in the rising roar of it's brothers and sisters. 

The soldier-to-be had no reply. 

* * * 

End of Part 2 

Author's Notes: Yeah, uh... believe it or not, it _is_ going somewhere ^.^0 I've had this 

thing planned out for ages now. 

You can visit my currently inactive page (for the moment anyways) at: www.sparks.ca/sara 

Document created with wvWare/wvWare version 0.6.7 -->


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